RIVERSIDE – Freshman Camryn Hidalgo stepped onto the 1-meter springboard in the final round Tuesday with more than just a CIF-SS title in her grasp.
One of Orange County’s remarkable diving streaks also appeared to be at the mercy of her graceful acrobatics.
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What happened next at Riverside City College certainly didn’t have the look of a ninth-grader overwhelmed by the pressure of either possibility.
The Capistrano Valley diver calmly took flight, spun fast and ripped her entry en route to capturing the Division 1 title and dethroning three-time defending champion Alexandra Caplan of Mission Viejo.
“She knows how to compete,” third-place finisher Haley Farnsworth of San Clemente said of Hidalgo. “She had it figured out.”
Capistrano Valley swept Division 1 as Stanford-bound Tarek Abdelghany won the boys title with a score of 579.35.
Later Tuesday night, Crean Lutheran freshman Colten Young scored a 10.0 en route to a Division 3-record score, 584.75, which gave the Mission Viejo Nadadores claim to all three O.C. champions.
Hidalgo’s final dive was a back 1½ somersault with 1 1/2 twist. She earned two 9.0s and three 8.5s to score 63.75 points, her highest single-dive score in the 11-dive competition.
The clutch effort forced Caplan to score a perfect dive in Round 11 to become the first county diver to win four consecutive CIF-SS titles.
The San Diego State-bound senior netted two 8.5s and four 8.0s on a back 1½ somersault pike on the 1-meter, but it wasn’t enough to catch Hidalgo, who held the outright lead the final 10 rounds.
Hidalgo finished with 536.50 points in outdistancing Caplan (523.80) and Farnsworth (522.35), a late-charging sophomore.
Hidalgo is no ordinary freshman. The 15-year-old is part of USA Diving’s Future Olympic Force team, a former member of the Junior Elite Program and competed for the United States at the FINA Junior World Championships in Australia in 2012.
“It’s helped to (learn) that you always have to be in your zone – don’t let anything get you down,” she said of her international experience. “I really wanted to win this meet. I knew that I had the capability of doing it, but to win is just amazing.”
Caplan was graceful in defeat, giving Hidalgo a hug after the awards ceremony.
“She’s a class act,” said Curt Wilson, Caplan’s coach with Crown Valley Divers. “She dominated for four years. … She missed a couple dives today. That’s how it goes.”
Caplan, who recently won Junior West titles here on both springboards, missed a reverse 2 1/2 somersault tuck on 3-meter in the fourth round. She scored a 3.0 and a 3.5.
And while the ending of the meet was filled with pressure, Caplan faced it throughout, Wilson said.
“That (reserve 2 1/2) usually is a dive that she can go 8.5, 9s on. … She just got a bad take off,” he said. “If you think about it, Ally had more pressure on her than anybody else today. She had something on the line. Everyone else was shooting for her. Tough spot to be in.”
Hidalgo missed two dives — an inward 2 1/2 somersaults and a back 2 1/2 somersaults on 3-meter — and earned scores in the 5.5-range. But she quickly bounced back both times. After her first miss in round four, she sizzled on her next two dives, earning a 10.0 on an inward dive on 1-meter in the sixth round.
Still, the competition was tight at the end. Hidalgo said she purposely doesn’t follow the scoring during the meet.
“I was nervous because I didn’t really know how I was placed,” she said of finale. “I don’t look at the scores. I get distracted. I just focus on my dives because it’s easier for me.”
Farnsworth moved into title contention with a strong surge in rounds eight, nine and 10 before missing in Round 11. She earned a 10.0 and three 9.5 on a reverse pike on 1-meter in the eighth round.
“I was feeling pretty good,” Farnsworth said of late surge. “I was trying to remain consistent, then on my last dive, I over-worked it. It wasn’t bad but it could have been a lot better. … I can still be even more consistent.”
Tuesday was a big day for county freshmen. Young, also a double Junior West champion, smashed Lester Wright’s 2010 Division 3 record of 567.90 for Rio Mesa.
“We just training really hard,” Young said of the freshmen’s success.
Abdelghany enjoyed a breakthrough. After finishing fourth last season and second as a sophomore, he claimed his first title. As a freshman, he endured a back injury that kept him sidelined four to five months.
“I’ve been working my way up and it paid off,” he said. “(My goal) was to end senior-year with a win.”
Santa Margarita’s Annie Whelan, the Trinity League champion, was a scratch.
Contact the writer: dalbano@ocregister.com
